The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to generating audio in information handling systems with piezoelectric force actuators.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Some information handling systems such as, for example, laptop computing devices and tablet computing devices, include an audio system to provide audio content to a user of the computing device. Audio systems typically include speakers such as, for example, electromagnetic speakers. However, electromagnetic speakers have certain minimum space requirements in order to allow the speaker components (e.g., magnets, coils, cones, etc.) to generate acceptable levels of sound. As it becomes more and more desirable to provide computing devices with thinner profiles, the volume required for electromagnetic speakers becomes an issue. A thinner alternative to electromagnetic speakers is a piezoelectric panel speaker that includes a piezoelectric force actuator that is attached to a solid panel and that is actuated to vibrate that panel to reproduce sound in a similar manner to the electromagnet speakers. However, the sound quality and loudness of piezoelectric panel speakers at low frequencies (e.g., <1000 Hz) is relatively poor compared to an electromagnetic speaker.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved audio panel utilizing piezoelectric force actuators.